A/N: Welcome to another chapter! Hope you all enjoy!
Chapter 20
Six o'clock finally came and the boys made their way to Serena's house to meet their dates. Darien rang the doorbell and waited patiently for someone to answer while he, Andrew, and Chad held the corsages. Irene opened the door and smiled at them. "Darien," she said before giving him a big hug. She released him and took a good look at him and his friends. "You all look so handsome!" She gave Andrew and Chad hugs too. "Please, come in." They all entered the house as Irene closed the door behind them. She sighed and looked them over again. "I just can't get over how dashing you all look!" They all had the same kind of tuxedos on; the only difference was that Darien had black tuxedo with a pink vest and tie, Andrew had an orange vest and bowtie, and Chad had a white tuxedo with a red vest and tie.
"Thanks, Irene," Darien said with a smile as he and the guys took a seat on the sofa.
"Can I take some pictures of you while we wait?" The boys smiled broadly and posed in multiple positions by the stairs as Irene took pictures.
"Irene," Ken said as he walked into the hallway. "Don't blind the poor boys with that flash. They won't be able to see their dates." He shook hands with Darien and pulled him into a hug. "What'd you boys do all day while the girls got ready?"
Darien, Andrew, and Chad traded looks as they remembered their conversations at Darien's apartment. "I plead the fifth," Chad finally said while Andrew rubbed the back of his neck.
"We found plenty of things to do to keep ourselves entertained," Darien said with a laugh.
Irene snapped another picture. "Mom," Sammy said as he joined everyone in the hallway. "You've been taking pictures all day. Chill out."
She snapped a quick picture of him. "You can't have too many pictures." Ken just shook his head as he and Sammy turned around. Ken put a hand on his hip and mouthed the sentence Irene just said while crossing his eyes. Sammy laughed. Irene snapped another picture. "I saw that!" Darien, Chad, and Andrew laughed at the family's banter.
"Girls," Irene called up the stairs. "Your dates are here. Come on down so we can take pictures."
The boys waited at the foot of the stairs as the girls appeared at the top one by one. Rae was first; she had on fiery red sleeveless semi-formal gown that reached her knees. Her hair was styled in a half bun with the rest flowing down her back in waves. "You look SO good!" Chad exclaimed when she met him at the bottom of the stairs.
"Thanks," Rae replied. "Serena's mom is a miracle worker." Irene snapped a picture of the two of them before moving out of the way for the next girl to come down.
Mina appeared next; she wore a bright orange strapless gown that reached her ankles adorned with small jewels. Her hair flowed in curls and ringlets with a sparkling headband. Andrew held out a hand towards her and kissed it. "My lady, beautiful as always," he said after giving her another once over.
"You're pretty cute too," she replied. "We should date." Andrew smiled at her joke as Mina giggled while Irene captured the moment on camera. They moved out of the way and waited for Serena to come down.
Darien smiled widely when he finally saw Serena appear at the top of the stairs. She was wearing a dark pink v-neck dress that reached her ankles and accentuated her form just right. Her hair was braided around her head like a crown, much different from her normal hairstyle. Irene was taking pictures the entire time as he took in her beauty. Serena smiled at him when she got to the bottom of the stairs and Darien still could hardly speak. She was simply stunning. He hugged her and put on her corsage. "You look incredible," he said when he finally found his voice.
"So do you," Serena said as she pinned on Darien's boutonnière. "I told you pink would look nice on you."
"Thank you for everything, Irene," Mina said.
"Yeah, thank you so much," Rae said with a smile. "You're the best."
"You're very welcome, girls," Irene said happily. She sighed dreamily. "You all just look precious. Can I take just one more group picture?" All the couples posed by the stairs and smiled happily as Irene took their pictures. "I'll get you all copies as soon as possible." She gave Serena a hug and a kiss and her father and brother did the same.
"Have fun tonight, kids," Ken said as they all went out the house. "Stay safe." The group headed to Andrew's SUV since it was the biggest car they had and they didn't want to pay for a limo. Irene, Ken, and Sammy waved as Andrew drove them on their way.
About an hour later, Serena, Darien, Andrew, Mina, Chad, and Rae arrived at the hotel where the prom was being held in more than enough time after their dinner together with Amy and Lita and their dates Greg and Ken. "It's so pretty here," Rae said excitedly as they entered the designated party room. The theme was a starry night and it looked like they stepped right into the middle of outer space from the backdrops to the lights and all the other decorations that filled the entire room.
"They really outdid themselves this year, didn't they?" Serena said as she looped her arm through Darien's.
"Aww look," Mina said pointing in the corner. "They have a photo booth." They walked over to the photo booth and took some silly pictures together. As soon as they were done they made their way to the center of the room and spent a majority of their time dancing to various kinds of music with a few group numbers in between. After a while they took a long rest and sat near the refreshment table.
"Is it me or is it hot in here?" Andrew asked as he loosened his tie.
"Well we did just do a lot of dancing," Mina said before kissing him on the cheek. "But you're always hot."
"When will you two just get a room and get it over with?" Rae asked when she reappeared at their table with Serena. She set a plate of food in the middle of the table while Serena passed around cups of water. "It's not a lot, but that's pretty much all they had to eat." Chad and Andrew immediately started chowing down while the rest of the group took large drinks of water.
Amy and Greg appeared hand in hand and joined them at their table. "I thought you two would be dancing the night away," Chad commented.
"Dancing is fun, but we still need a rest every once in a while," Amy replied. "Besides Gregory has to prepare to announce the prom king and queen." She looked around. "Where's Lita and Ken?"
"I thought they were still dancing," Rae said.
"They went 'on a walk' outside," Mina said mischievously. "Apparently they had some catching up to do."
"Oh, they'll catch something if they're not careful," Chad said before Rae hit him.
"They really do need to catch up," Serena explained. "He got here in just enough time to surprise Lita and it's been at least 2 years since they last saw each other in person. Lita's more sentimental than she lets on so they'll be a while." A new slow song came on and Serena gasped. "Aww I love this song," she said.
Darien stood up and extended a hand towards her. "Would you care to dance again?" Serena smiled and took his hand as she accepted his offer. He led her to the dance floor and they began a simple slow dance together.
"They really are perfect for each other," Rae said.
"Yeah they're so cute," Mina agreed. Chad laughed. "What?"
"I just think it's hilarious how we went from joking them all this time to admiring them."
"Funny how things change," Andrew replied. Suddenly loud laughing was heard from the entrance. They turned to see who it was and frowned. "Look who decided to join us," he said wryly.
"Causing a scene as usual," Rae added with a sigh. At the door was Beryl with her date Diamond Blackmoon. Following close behind was their crew: his brother Sapphire Blackmoon and his date Prisma Green, and Ruben Grainger and Emerald Green. "Looks like they've already been partying."
Serena and Darien were oblivious as they danced quietly flirting with each other until the laughing racket interrupted them. They looked to where the noise was coming from and Darien frowned when he caught sight of Beryl with Diamond. He looked back down at Serena and smiled at her trying to focus on finishing their dance. Fortunately, Serena's back was to Beryl and she couldn't see Beryl watching him like a hawk as she danced with Diamond. It made Darien uneasy because she had the look in her eyes that told him she was plotting something. The song ended and Darien walked Serena back to the table where the others were sitting.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen," Greg Johnson, the senior class president said. "I hope you've been enjoying yourselves. It's time to announce this year's prom king and queen." Greg carefully opened the envelope that was in his hand and read the results to himself before he read it out loud. "The prom queen for this year is... Beryl Stone!" Everyone applauded as Beryl feigned surprise and rushed to the stage as she all but snatched the tiara from him. "And this year's prom king is… Darien Shields!" Everyone applauded louder for him.
Darien squeezed Serena's hand as she smiled at him. He reluctantly went to the stage to get his crown. "As is tradition," Greg continued. "… the prom king and queen will share a dance together." Darien groaned inwardly.
Serena watched uncomfortably as Darien danced with Beryl. She smiled as Darien turned them around to make eye contact with her. He made a funny face making her laugh, but Beryl said something that force made him look at her. He looked like he was trying to put as much distance as possible between them, but Beryl wasn't having it. "What a whore!" she heard Rae say.
"Even though it's true, that's not a nice thing to say," Serena scolded gently.
"But look at her," Chad said with annoyance. "She's totally trying to hump him! She cheated on him then tried to get back together with him. Then she decides to ignore him after he put her in her place. And now she's back at it again while she's here with another dude."
"That's why I said what I said," Rae said as she crossed her arms.
Serena frowned as Beryl now rested her head on Darien's chest. "It's only one dance," Andrew said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She turned to him and smiled appreciatively. "You know good and well Darien only has eyes for you." Serena gasped when the song ended. "Serena, what's…" Andrew turned to where she was looking and saw Beryl in a full lip lock with Darien whose face was scrunched with both surprise and disgust.
"I…I need some air," Serena said as she stood and ran out.
*What Actually Happened*
Darien was doing his best to dance with Beryl so he had a clear view of Serena the whole time. When he made eye contact with her he crossed his eyes and made a face which caused Serena to laugh which caused him to smile. "I'm right here," Beryl said impatiently.
Darien looked down at her and frowned. "I know we have to share a dance together, but I'm sure it's just as awkward for my girlfriend to watch me dance with you as it is for your boyfriend to watch you dancing with me considering our history. I was just trying to make her feel better."
"You should at least pay attention to your dance partner so you don't step on her feet." Beryl tried to get closer to him, but Darien kept some distance between them. "You know, you should be thanking me."
Darien looked at her suspiciously. "Why?"
"I may or may not have convinced a lot of people to vote for you since it was inevitable that I'd be queen anyway."
Darien rolled his eyes and looked away from her. She suddenly rested her head on his chest. He looked down at her. "Beryl," he warned.
"Are you ready to thank me? Here, let me help you." Beryl suddenly grabbed both sides of Darien's face and pulled him in for a kiss.
Darien's eyes widened considerably, but he pushed her off of him as his shock quickly wore off. He rolled his eyes at her and was met with a smirk. "You're unbelievable!" he said angrily.
"You know you liked it," Beryl said smugly.
Darien pushed her away and made his way back to the table to search for Serena. "Where is she?" he asked Andrew frantically.
"She ran outside after she saw you and Beryl kiss," Andrew replied sadly.
Darien groaned. "I hated every second of it. She kissed me a-and I…"
"We know, Darien," Mina said sympathetically. "Serena knows too."
"I saw her run towards that alcove in the fountain area we passed when we came in," Rae said pointing outside. "Go get her."
Darien nodded and went out to the fountain area Rae mentioned and searched desperately for Serena. He heard Serena's voice in the distance and followed until he found her. "Get away from me," she was saying.
"It's just one kiss," a male voice was saying. Darien came around the corner and became enraged at the sight before him. Diamond was sitting next to Serena and had his arm around her as he tried to force himself on her.
"Leave me alone," Serena cried as she struggled to get free from his grasp.
"Not until I get what I want."
"Hey!" Darien yelled as he ran up to them. He yanked Diamond's hand off of her and gently pulled Serena up so she was standing behind him. "She doesn't want anything to do with you!"
Diamond smirked as he stood up. "Seems ironic coming from the guy who kissed my girlfriend, don't you think?" He proceeded to punch Darien in the face knocking him on the ground causing his crown to fall off.
"Darien!" Serena screamed. Diamond pushed Darien on the ground and straddled himself over his body preparing to attack him. "Diamond, no!" She tried to push Diamond off of Darien, but he knocked her backwards.
Fresh anger boiled inside of Darien as he gathered his strength and pushed Diamond off of him. He fell on the ground and Darien hurried to Serena's side. "Are you all right?" he asked as he helped her up.
"You're bleeding," she cried.
"Don't worry about me."
"Darien, look out!" Darien moved the two of them out the way before Diamond punched the air and fell forward. He left him there as he led Serena out of the alcove back inside the building.
Darien walked with Serena down the hall before he stopped to lean against the wall after a few steps. He groaned as he wiped some blood from his nose. "Are you ok?" he asked Serena again. "He… He didn't hurt you when he pushed you did he?"
"I'm not the one who's bleeding," Serena replied urgently. "We need to find you some ice."
Just then Mr. Peterson came around the corner and hurried to Darien when he saw him. "Mr. Shields, what happened?"
"Diamond Blackmoon punched him after he told him to stop harassing me," Serena explained.
Diamond came rushing inside looking left to right. "Oh Mr. Peterson, thank God!" he said as he approached the group. "Darien tried to start a fight with me for no reason."
Mr. Peterson looked at him skeptically. "Funny. I don't see any blood or bruises on you, Mr. Blackmoon." He turned to face Darien. "Can you explain what happened, Mr. Shields?"
"Beryl kissed me during the prom king and queen dance so I left to go find Serena."
Diamond scoffed. "You definitely kissed my girlfriend."
Mr. Peterson held his hand up to Diamond. "Continue, Darien."
"My friends told me where she was and when I went towards the fountain I heard her crying out. When I followed her voice I saw Diamond with his arm around Serena trying to force her to kiss him. I pulled him away and got Serena away from him before he punched me. He pushed me on the ground and was about to attack me and Serena tried to stop him, but he knocked her backwards so I pushed him off me."
"See?" Diamond interrupted. "He touched me first and he pushed me at least twice."
"So you were out here harassing Ms. Thomas before Mr. Shields found you?"
"I wasn't harassing her. Darien only saw what he wanted to see. I was merely trying to comfort her since he decided to get lost in the heat of the moment with my girlfriend."
"He's lying," Serena insisted. "I just needed a moment to myself, but Diamond snuck behind me and kept trying to kiss me. I kept telling him to leave me alone, but he wouldn't listen. He kept saying he wouldn't leave until he got what he wanted. Darien got there just in time and was just trying to get me away from him, but Diamond punched him in the face and kept trying to fight him while we were trying to get away."
"Like I said: I was just trying to comfort her. You don't need a cheater in your life."
"I've heard enough," Mr. Peterson said. "Mr. Blackmoon, since you have no visible injuries I'm going to have to ask you to leave the premises immediately."
"But…"
"But nothing. You know about our school's anti-fighting policy. You are dismissed." Diamond grumbled as he walked away. Mr. Peterson faced Darien. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to dismiss you too, Darien. I know you didn't start the fight, but you were still involved."
"It's probably for the best," Darien said as he wiped more blood from his nose.
"Darien was just trying to protect me," Serena added. "Please don't let him get in trouble because of me."
"He's not in trouble," Mr. Peterson replied. "Let's just worry about getting Darien some ice." Darien slowly followed Mr. Peterson to a kitchen area with Serena by his side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she wrapped one of her arms around his waist to support him.
Darien got out of Andrew's car and opened Serena's door for her to get out. He placed an arm around her shoulders. "Thanks again for the ride, Drew," he said as he rubbed her shoulders. "Sorry about making you all leave early."
"Don't worry about it," Andrew replied. "Focus on feeling better, ok?"
Mina, Chad, and Rae all said their get better sentiments and Darien waved at them as Andrew drove off. He walked Serena to her front porch and they stood in front of the door. Serena was looking down and refused to make eye contact with him. Darien took her hands into his. "Serena, will you please look at me?"
"I can't," she said as she turned away from him and went to sit on the porch swing.
Darien followed and sat beside her. She turned away from him, but he wrapped his arms around her anyway. "Everything's ok now," he said as he pulled her closer so she was leaning on him. "You're home and I have you safe in my arms." He kissed the top of her head. "No one can ever take your place no matter how hard they try. You know that, right?"
"I know."
"So what makes you think you can't look at me?"
Serena turned around and slowly looked up at him. She caressed the area between his nose and his now blackened eye. "Because this is my fault," she said as tears filled her eyes.
Darien held her a little tighter as she began to cry on his chest. "You're not the one who punched me," he said after a while. "Although we both know you probably could do some major damage."
Serena scoffed. "This never would have happened if I didn't run away when Beryl kissed you or force you to come to prom in the first place or…"
"I don't wanna hear it," Darien interrupted. "We could argue and nitpick the details all night long, but it doesn't matter because we're both safe and we're here together. Thank God for that." He held her in his arms until she stopped crying.
Serena hugged him tightly. "Thank you," she said with a sniffle.
"Do you think you look at me now?" he asked as he rubbed her back.
She buried her head deeper into his chest. "But I'm a mess," she mumbled.
"Please?" Darien begged. Serena obliged and looked up at him only to be met with a smile. "Now I have the best view," he said as he wiped the last of her tears away. "I see the most beautiful girl I've ever met." He rested his hand on her cheek. "I love you, Serena." His eyes moved from her face to her lips and he slowly pulled her closer to him.
Serena's heart began to beat faster as she placed a hand on his chest and found that his heart was beating just as fast. She closed her eyes and allowed him to close the gap between them. The kiss was short, but sweet as they poured all the love they had for each other into that very moment. When they parted they looked into each other's eyes. "I love you too, Darien."
Darien smiled and kissed her again. "Can I ask you one more thing?" Serena nodded. He took out his phone, started playing a song, and turned the volume all the way up. He stood and put the phone on the railing then extended a hand towards her. "Can the prom king have a dance with his true prom queen?"
Serena smiled and took his hand. Darien helped her stand up and continued holding her hand while his other hand rested against the small of her back. Serena placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned her head against his chest as she closed her eyes enjoying his embrace as they fell in step dancing together. They continued to dance well after the song ended both simply content being in each other's embrace. Nothing else mattered in that moment. It didn't matter that they were dancing on her front porch to music they could barely hear. It didn't matter that Beryl had kissed Darien. It didn't matter that Darien now had a black eye. Like Darien said before all that mattered was that they were safe and they were together. Prom night may not have gone how either of them imagined, but it was still a night they would always remember and they could thank God for that.